A virtual professional development offering saw leaders from Beloit and nine other ACM colleges developing skills to help them carry out projects to benefit their departments.
Department chairs from across the Associated Colleges of the Midwest (ACM) took part in a yearlong professional development series that cultivated participants’ leadership skills and provided practical tools to help them best serve their own departments and their colleges as a whole. The first cohort of Leading Effectively as a Department Chair at an ACM College saw 17 new and experienced department chairs from 10 ACM colleges connecting virtually for structured programming that culminated in the execution of a change project on each chair’s campus.
Erin Bryan, the chair of the music department at Ripon College, praised the series of collaborative seminars she attended throughout the 2024-2025 academic year. She said they presented valuable new insights into change management and encouraged her to refine her approach to leadership.
“The program helped me and other ACM department chairs better view our respective roles as opportunities to advocate, rather than merely as assignments,” Bryan said. “It was empowering—I feel much better equipped now that I’ve taken part in this offering.”
Leading Effectively as a Department Chair at an ACM College was provided as a no-cost offering to ACM member institutions and was facilitated by Duane Coltharp, a former associate vice president for academic affairs at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. Coltharp encouraged participants to explore their personal leadership philosophies, identify areas for growth, and develop tailored strategies and tools for achieving departmental goals. The chairs also planned, implemented, and evaluated a change project within their departments, applying the knowledge they gained through the program.
In addition to five virtual group sessions, Coltharp held one-on-one meetings with participants to give individualized feedback and support as they analyzed their departments’ needs and reflected on their own leadership styles.
Pablo Toral, the co-chair of the Beloit College environmental studies department, took part in the pilot offering. He said he will utilize key takeaways from the professional development sessions when helping shape the future of his department and completing his change project: finding low-cost ways to serve a growing major.
“Student interest in environmental studies and sustainability has remained robust for years, but cautious financial planning has not allowed our college to hire additional faculty to offer new courses for our program,” Toral said. “Our goal for this workshop was to come up with a faculty-development strategy to help current members of the faculty create new environmental studies courses.”
ACM President Lisa Jasinski said feedback was so positive from the inaugural year of Leading Effectively as a Department Chair at an ACM College that a second cohort will start in September. She strongly encouraged member colleges to nominate department chairs now for the 2025-2026 schedule. Participants are asked to register by June 13, but late registrations will be accepted if space is available.
“ACM is extremely proud of its commitment to develop the next generation of leaders in the liberal arts,” Jasinski said. “Our efforts to empower and prepare department chairs to carry out important work on behalf of their students, faculty, and staff colleagues will ensure that our member colleges succeed in their missions now and in the future.”
Ilene Crawford, the Cornell College provost and vice president for academic affairs, said the opportunity for department chairs to interact with colleagues from other ACM colleges equipped all participants with fresh perspectives that will help them succeed in their important roles.
“Leadership development is critical for small colleges, where everyone has a role to play in institutional success, but many training programs are costly and less focused on the specific needs of small liberal arts colleges,” Crawford added.
More information on participating in Leading Effectively as a Department Chair at an ACM College is available here. Participants will receive a small stipend at the end of the 2025-2026 academic year, to recognize the investment of their time in this professional development series. Colleges may nominate up to three participants.
